


encadenada al diablo (chained to the devil)

by zahivs



Category: Vis a Vis | Locked In (Spain TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Crimes & Criminals, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Smut, LGBTQ Themes, Lesbian Sex, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:21:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28750623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zahivs/pseuds/zahivs
Summary: Barista / Criminal AU.When Macarena Ferreiro is invited to her brother's wedding and overhears that everyone is attending with their date, she panics and tells her parents that she, herself, is coming with her boyfriend.A boyfriend that doesn't exist.With the help of her best friend Rizos, she ends up hiring a person with the name of Zulema Zahir to play her significant other for a good amount of money.Macarena would have, never in a million years, imagined the amount of influence her choice would have on her future.
Relationships: Estefanía "Rizos" Kabila/Saray Vargas, Macarena Ferreiro & Estefanía "Rizos" Kabila, Macarena Ferreiro/Zulema Zahir
Comments: 17
Kudos: 61





	1. prologue

_As hypocrisy is said to be the highest compliment to virtue, the art of lying is the strongest acknowledgement of the force of truth. - William Hazlitt_

* * *

“Stop laughing, Rizos, it’s not funny!” Macarena said to her friend, annoyance and frustration clearly present in her voice.

“Excuse me? You’re telling me it’s not funny how you told your parents that you are dating an English vintner with Spanish roots that recently moved to Madrid to establish a proper wine company?” Dark curls fell into her face as the younger woman tried to catch her breath from all the laughing, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as the giggles tumbled from her lips. 

Macarena, who had already given up on trying to make her best friend stop laughing, was sitting back in her chair and rolling her eyes for what had seemed like the tenth time. 

“Why would you even tell them about his hair and eye color? That’s so bizarre.”

“I was panicking and clearly not thinking about what I was saying.” The blonde huffed.

Macarena avoided her eyes from the sight in front of her, feeling like she definitely needed some fresh air after having Estefanía laugh in her face for ten minutes straight. But just when she was about to stand up, the woman in front of her stopped her with her voice, 

“I’m sorry Maca,” Rizos started and reached out to place her hand upon Macarena’s, finally holding her giggles back, even though her face clearly showed her want to keep laughing, “I’m not really helping.”

“Yeah, you’re really not helping me with my problem at all, Rizos.”

A small moment of silence passed between the two while Estefanía blinked at her perplexedly. “I’m sorry, what was the problem here again?”

Macarena let her body fall back into her chair with a thump and let out a much needed sigh of exhaustion. This woman was going to be the death of her. She couldn’t even keep one piece of information, from barely half an hour ago, in her memory. Her hands ran across her face, pulling the skin below her eyes down a little before she leaned forward against the table, maintaining eye contact with the dark ones across from her. 

“The problem is, Rizos, that my brother’s wedding is in a week from now and if I don’t have a boyfriend by then, I’m pretty much fucked because I told my parents he’s coming along.” The blonde-haired woman muttered, trying to keep her voice down. 

Estefanía shook her head, “Why did you even say that?”

“Because every invited guest is coming with their partner. Do you really think I’d want to be alone? Plus, my brother is going to be married and where does that leave me? I don’t want to be that daughter that’s not able to be in a relationship by 29.”

“But that’s the truth, Maca..”

“Rizos! Just help me instead of using up your energy to judge me!” 

“You’re right, you’re right. So what’s the plan, guapa?”

Macarena breathed in deeply and folded her hands on the table, “So.. it’s either I have one week to get a boyfriend or I’m going to pay someone for it.”

“You mean you want to hire someone to play the role of your boyfriend? For money?” Estefanías asked as her brown eyes widened in disbelief at her idea.

With a nod and a small, tight-lipped smile, Macarena confirmed her friend’s thoughts. As she leaned forward to take a sip of her soda, her mind was racing with worries. Would something like that work out? Would her parents even believe something so odd?

“Okay then, Maca, let’s start looking for potential boyfriends then. I’m sure there’s some kind of website for that.” Rizos was already fumbling in her pocket to grab her phone but was quickly stopped by Macarena’s hand occupying hers.

“No. You’re gonna go home, Rizos. It’s getting late, plus, isn’t today your date night with Saray?” 

A pout was sent Macarena’s way and she almost gave into her best friend but instead she just looked away. Estefanía checked the time on her phone and nodded with a sigh. 

“You’re right, I should probably get going now. It’s half past seven and if I’m not home in twenty minutes from now, Saray will most likely ask me again if I cheated on her with you.” 

That comment made Macarena giggle whole-heartedly and it was the first time in a few days that she did so. She hated when people lied to her and now she was the one lying to her parents, or well, the whole Fereirro-Family and it already made her feel horrible. And even though Rizos got on her nerves sometimes, she was still her best friend and always cheered her up. Especially in dead-end-situations like this.

Another few words and laughs were exchanged before Macarena walked Estefanía to the door of her apartment.

“Tell me when you make a find.” The curly-haired woman uttered before pulling her in for a tight hug.

“Yes, yes, of course I will. Now go!” Macarena chuckled and slapped her butt playfully before closing the door once her best friend was out of sight. 

* * *

It was way after nine in the evening when Macarena finished washing the dishes and cleaning up her rather small apartment. Having been occupied with work, chores and her own problems all day, she finally allowed herself to relax on the couch.

So now she was sitting on her couch, legs crossed and her feet up on the coffee table as some movie, she didn’t quite remember putting on, was playing in the background. She usually did that to feel less lonely because living on her own just sometimes didn’t turn out to be very enjoyable. But Macarena was grateful for the silence right now, she didn’t need music nor television or any other noise. Only silence. So the movie was quickly shut off with one swift move.

Just when she thought she was dozing off into a much needed slumber, her hazel eyes fell onto the glass of chardonnay that stood ever so untouched on her table, causing her to shoot up into an upright position.

She really needed to hire a boyfriend, NOW. 

With quick steps, Macarena rushed into her bedroom and grabbed her laptop from one of the drawers before returning to her couch, already having switched it on on her way in her state of desperation. 

“Okay, how am I going to do this?” She asked herself in the quietness of her apartment while she opened her browser. 

After a minute of reconsidering her actions, she typed in: “How to hire a boyfriend.” She would have definitely laughed at that if she hadn’t been dead serious.

Not even a second later hundreds of sites popped up, much to her surprise. With wide eyes she scrolled further down and shook her head in utter disbelief. She couldn’t believe people would actually do that. But whom was she kidding? Wasn’t she doing the same?

So she ended up clicking on the link that looked the safest and most promising, watching thousands of profiles loading on her screen. 

She leaned forward on her elbow to get closer to the screen, her teeth gently biting down on the nail of her index finger, scrolling through the different profiles in curiosity.

But before she could click on anything, she was asked to register herself, so she did, but not without an impatient groan falling from her lips. 

She typed in the brackets of information that needed to be filled out and left the other ones empty; “ _Macarena Ferreiro, 29, barista, Madrid._ ” 

And after settling on a nice picture of her in a red dress and her blonde hair up in a bun for her profile picture, Macarena saved her account, already regretting her actions. 

No one would find out, right? 

So now that nothing was holding her back anymore, she started looking through different men’s profiles. One taller, one shorter, one older, one younger, one broader, one skinnier. Everything was here. 

Someone named Fernando caught her eye so she opened his profile: “Fernando Cortéz. 32. Winemaker.” He was blonde and didn’t look like she described him to her parents but at least his profession matched. But when she looked at the amount of money he demanded, her breath hitched. 20.000$?? For playing the fake boyfriend?? That almost felt offensive to her.

Macarena continued her search and landed on someone with the name Julio. She looked through his profile. He was half British and a car designer, which didn’t go with Macarena’s job description, but everyone could lie. He was also dark-haired so that was also spot on and he only expected to get paid 5.000$ which was a big amount of money for a barista but it was doable. Just as Maca was about to text him, she noticed his age and quickly closed his profile description again. Why would anyone do such thing with just nineteen years of age? 

* * *

When it struck midnight, Macarena was still on her laptop, trying to find the perfect boyfriend to hire but no one seemed to be the match. 

She laid back for the first time after three hours of sitting in front of her computer, her back making a painful sound as she did so. Macarena groaned and closed her eyes for a split second, wanting to get the tiniest second of rest but the chiming of her phone had already pulled her out of her daze. 

The woman reached back on the arm rest of the couch and grabbed her phone, unlocking it with narrow eyes to avoid the bright light emitting from the screen. 

Of course it had to be a message from Rizos. 

Rizos: “Holi. I thought about your idea of hiring a boyfriend and then a friend of mine popped up in my head. The name’s Zulema Zahir, I’ll send you the number!!”

Macarena shook her head with a giggle. This was so typical for Rizos. She’d never leave anything to Maca, she always had to be included somehow. Her smile faded when she realized that this was serious. Zulema? What kind of name was that? 

But she wasn’t one to judge a book by its cover so she waited patiently for her best friend to send her the contact before typing: “You always have your ways, it’s unbelievable. Thank you for finally trying to help though. Xoxo.” 

Macarena decided to get off her phone for the night, switching off her laptop and then her lights before she made her way into her bedroom. With a yawn, she threw off the sweater and the simple pair of jeans she was wearing before slipping beneath the covers of her double bed. When her head hit the soft pillows, she sighed contently and immediately closed her eyes, ready to slip off into dreamworld.

But she couldn’t seem to fall asleep so she laid there for what seemed to be hours, staring at the empty, dark ceiling and let the thoughts cloud her mind once more. She knew that this was a terrible idea. How long would she have to lie? One day her parents would find out that she was lying, she couldn’t keep up the façade forever.

She doubted it. But what she doubted even more was the fact that she wouldn’t be able to find a boyfriend to hire in the first place. No one seemed to be fitting. 

Macarena rolled around her bed before reaching out for her phone on her nightstand. Curiosity got the best of her so she opened the new number Rizos sent her with pursed lips and a skeptical expression. 

Her thumbs hovered over the keyboard like a coward before she just let loose and started writing:

“Hey there, it’s Macarena. I have no idea if Rizos even told you about this yet but she said you’d make a good boyfriend for me to hire? Let me know if I’m messaging the wrong person.” 

Without overthinking, she just tapped send but when she realized that it was two in the morning, she gasped. She dropped her phone on her stomach and ran her hands over her face and through her hair in frustration, gripping it. The person on the other line would definitely be weirded out.  
But the ringing off her phone just mere seconds later reassured her that this wasn’t the case.  
Zulema had already answered?

_I suppose you got the right one. You’re that girl that needs a date for her brother’s wedding, yeah, Rizos told me something like that. So when’s the wedding?_

Macarena was taken aback by the pace of the person she was texting. He didn’t even properly introduce himself and already wants to know when the wedding is? Weren’t they supposed to get to know each other first?  
But nonetheless she replied: _Oh, one week from now, February 12th. But shouldn’t we meet first so we can discuss things? What about tomorrow, at 2? I work at ‘el grano’_

_Who even gets married in February? - Z_

_Anyways, I’ll be there - Z_

The blonde’s brows furrowed in confusion. Why would you already criticize someone on the first encounter? Macarena shook her head and put her phone aside, rolling onto her side to let the bright light of the moon illuminates her face. It occurred to her that she didn’t even know if Zulema looked anything like how she described her “boyfriend” to her parents. If he even was a vintner or British? 

She doubted that Rizos actually knew such people.

No matter what was going to happen tomorrow, she surely didn’t expect _that._


	2. do i know you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd suggest a good cup of coffee for this chapter. ;)

While Zulema was used to the frigid temperatures that raged in Madrid around this time of the year, she surely felt quite unfamiliar to the whistling gusts of wind that broke against her ears. With freezing hands she pulled the hood of her sweater over her head so it covered most of her black hair, mentally cursing herself for not having made the effort to put on a proper jacket.

As she reached into her pocket in attempt to warm up her hands, she remembered why she was here, standing on an empty beach of Valencia in the middle of the night with no one to be seen but her own reflection in the water whose waves broke against the shoreline in a steady rhythm. 

Anyone would be scared in this situation. Darkness, loneliness, quietness. Anyone but Zulema. Long ago she had abandoned the feeling of fear, she was simply immune to it. Or at least that’s what she thought. But the feeling of the little bag stuffed with white powder in her hand brought her seemingly frozen senses back to life. She took a glance at her watch which read exactly midnight. “They’re late.” She thought to herself but then she noticed three figures appearing in the darkness, approaching her. Zulema uncrossed her ankles and straightened her posture, looking ahead confidently, her guns safely attached to her belt as she waited for the men to come closer.

“Got my money?” The Spanish woman yelled over to the three men, a small smirk growing on her features. 

“Got my stuff, puta?” One of the men yelled back and with that, Zulema’s smirk was replaced by a furrow of her brows, eyes narrowing tentatively.

“What did you just call me?” 

The three of her clients were now standing in front of the woman, building some kind of triangular formation across from her. They wanted to scare her off but Zulema wasn’t scared of men, had never been.

The man in the front chuckled mockingly, “Puta.” He repeated and Zulema just bit down on her lips and shook her head. 

“A ver, first of all, if you’re trying to scare me off, congratulations, you and your patriarchal assholes behind you never will and second of all, you either give me my nine-hundred euros now or you’ll never get to see your powder.” She replied in a calm voice, grabbing the bag from her pocket and waving it in front of his face with provocative, emerald eyes. 

She was used to this. Used to her clients making trouble and being unwilling to pay their money.

The guy in the front faced his companions and with a nod of his head, the two broad men behind him suddenly lunged forward, knocking Zulema onto the ground when her nose was met with a chin. 

“Joder,” She cursed and squeezed her eyes shut for a second at the pain that shot through her body. Not a second later she reached behind herself as both of her hands drew a gun from her belt, pointing one at each attacker with a soft smirk. She had this under control. Three men were child’s play for her. 

The front man seemed taken aback by the sudden drawing of guns but, thinking he outsmarted Zulema, he jumped towards her. With a simple kick of her foot into his crotch, she had him knocked out and whining. 

“Got anything else to say?” Zulema asked the two remaining men, whom she held at gunpoint, in a sharp voice, her eyes glistening from the feeling of power. Both of them hurried away like cowards and left Zulema chuckling in amusement. 

She tucked her guns back into her belt and turned to face the man lying on the ground, leaning down to search for the thing she came here for. Money. When she found a roll of notes in his pocket, she smiled in satisfaction and stood back up, putting the nine hundred euro notes away. 

“Have fun looking for a dealer that won’t blow your head off, hijo de puta.” The dark-haired woman spat, throwing the pack of cocaine into his face before walking away without another word spoken. 

Although she was more than pissed off, Zulema was a woman that held her word. So since she received her money, he received his drugs. Nothing more, nothing less.

So just like that, Zulema Zahir walked off into the darkness of the night, away from the man, away from the sea, away from another successful deal. Satisfied, she unlocked her car and slipped into the passenger seat, stuffing the money and her guns into the glove compartment before looking at her own reflection in the rear-view-mirror. 

She looked tired and worn out. She was living off of maximally three hours of sleep every day and in the long run, that definitely wasn’t healthy. But for months, years, her life had been the same. Getting up at five in the morning, making business calls, meeting with her partners, checking her warehouse, meeting with clients, dealing and then falling into her bed at approximately two in the morning, sometimes three or sometimes she simply didn’t sleep at all. But that was the life she chose and she definitely wasn’t one to pity herself.

The bright lights of the cars passing by stung in Zulema’s eyes and she tried her best not to close them but instead orientate herself on the road markings to her right hand side. When she was younger she had loved cruising over the highway at night but as the years went by, her eyes started dispising the flashes more and more. 

Zulema’s phone suddenly started vibrating in the pocket of her pants and with an annoyed groan she fumbled to get it out while still focusing on the road. Once she had managed to do that, she pressed it against her ear with no further ado. 

“Sí, dígame?” 

“It’s me.” Came an eccentric voice from the other side of the line. 

Zulema sighed and clicked her tongue against the front row of her teeth, her shoulders falling back. “Rizos, what do you want?” Her tone wasn’t very friendly to say the least. All she wanted was to be home and she couldn’t really deal with the enthusiastic woman right now. 

“I have a deal for you, Zule.”

Dark brows furrowed at the sudden answer she was given. An answer that was totally unexpected and really took her off guard. A deal? Since when did Rizos deal? And did Saray know about that? If there was anyone Zulema cared about, it was Saray. She had been her best friend for a long time and she cared too much about her to let her get into this dirty drug business. She didn’t know what to say. But Zulema being Zulema, she couldn’t just decline without more details. 

“What do you need?” She got herself to ask.

“I’m sorry?” Came a confused voice back from the other line, a moment of silence passing since the two of them didn’t seem to sit in the same boat.  
“You know, what do you need in return? Cocaine, Meth, LSD, Ecstasy?”

Zulema didn’t understand what was happening but she felt a weird shift of energy going on during their call.

“Oh, no, god, no, no drugs. Uhm.. How am I going to explain this, hmm..” 

To say Zulema was confused was an understatement by now and she desperately wanted to find a way out of this situation because it was making her feel uncomfortable. And that wasn’t the best emotion to feel when you’re driving at 110 km/h. 

“Rizos, I’m on the road. Make it quick or I’m out.” 

“Do you know Macarena Ferreiro?” Estefanía suddenly uttered which only caused Zulema’s frown and the furrow of her brows to get deeper and she was sure that she must have wrinkles by now. 

“Uhh.. your best friend Macarena? Yeah, why? Do you need stuff for her?” She asked back, definitely wanting to make it quick and put an end to this but it seemed to only draw things out more. 

She really had to focus on the street signs not to miss the right exits nor pass red lights. Getting arrested with kilos of drugs beneath her seats was definitely not on her plate. 

She heard rustling coming from Rizos' end as if she was reconsidering her actions, making Zulema tap her fingers against the steering wheel impatiently. 

“A ver, I don’t think I can help yo-“ But the other woman had already interrupted her, “It’s complicated but she needs someone to play her girlfriend for a few days or so. She lied to her parents about being in a relationship and now she’s looking for a person to hire.” 

The older woman couldn’t help but let out a low, amused chuckle at the pathetic situation that was presented to her but she quickly cut herself off when she realized that Rizos was being serious. 

“Hold on, you want me to play Ferreiro’s girlfriend? Do I look like a person to do that? Are you calling me ridiculous?” Zulema snorted unbelievably as she took a sharp turn with her car, wishing this call would end since she still had over an hour to drive. 

“You’d get 5.000€.” Rizos said monotonously and she swore she heard Zulema’s breath hitch at the sum. 

Zulema pursed her lips in deep thought. Playing Ferreiro’s girlfriend sounded like embarrassment. It sounded like humiliation and she definitely wasn’t one to get humiliated. She never wanted to be equal or less, always more. But 5000 euros sounded like music to her ears and if she wasn’t so insatiate for money she would definitely decline. 

“For how long?” She simply asked back.  
“There’s her brother’s wedding you’d have to attend.” 

There was another moment of silence and Zulema tried to force herself to refuse but before she could continue the fight with herself, her head had already decided,  
”Count me in but I want the money by tomorrow.”

And with that, Zulema hung up and threw her phone back on the front-shelf of the car before falling back into her seat, running a hand through her black hair. She felt torn and didn’t know if what she had agreed on was a good idea but nonetheless she had already consent to the deal and there was no going back. 

* * *

Another seventy minutes later and Zulema had finally arrived at her apartment in Madrid. She took the elevator to the sixth floor before opening the door to her 450sqm home. With some bribery, fake documents and a whole lot of contacts, it was pretty easy to live in a place like this as a dealer, without having people ask too many questions. 

Zulema’s head felt empty but also crowded with thoughts at the same time and she kept mentally cursing herself for having considered the deal with Estefanía but the thought of being 5000 euros richer really appealed to her. 

While she put her guns back into her drawer, she wondered why Rizos had chosen her to ask but she figured that was probably because of her greed for money which was quite obvious after all. 

Zulema left the lights in her apartment off, feeling much more at ease in the dark and after having put her stuff away, she opened the door to her balcony and stepped outside. She grabbed a cigarette from the box on the table and lit it, holding it up to her lips and taking a deep, much needed drag of the nicotine, feeling it fill her lungs before blowing it out into the freezing night of Madrid. 

From where Zulema sat on her balcony on the sixth floor, the moon light was perfectly hitting her face, making the night seem less dangerous and depressing. Little did she know that someone, just a few blocks away, was feeling the same exact feeling of ease as she laid in her bed and let the moon illuminate her face. And that same someone was the reason for disturbing Zulema’s nighttime peace by sending her a message and pulling her out of her thoughts. 

“Joder, who the fuck has the audacity to send a message at two in the night?” Zulema whispered to herself, taking another drag of her cigarette before stubbing it out in her ash tray. 

She unlocked her phone while puffing the smoke out into the air, looking at the message with furrowed brows and narrowed eyes. 

_Hey there, it’s Macarena. I have no idea if Rizos even told you about this yet but she said you’d make a good boyfriend for me to hire? Let me know if I’m messaging the wrong person. ___

Zulema couldn’t help but chuckle at the message. Boyfriend? What kind of joke was that? The whole message itself felt like a complete joke to her and she would lie if she said she didn’t think about not answering at all. 

__I suppose you got the right one. You’re that girl that needs a date for her brother’s wedding, yeah, Rizos told me something like that. So when’s the wedding? ____

___Zulema acted as if she had no idea, as if she didn’t know about the five thousand euros behind all of that. If she didn’t feel completely humiliated by the thought of being someone’s girlfriend, she would almost think this was fun, lying about being someone’s significant other, teasing them. Lying while making money was her specialty after all.  
It didn’t even take a minute for Macarena to reply and Zulema couldn’t help but wonder why on earth that woman was still awake. _ _ _

____Oh, one week from now, February 12th. But shouldn’t we meet first so we can discuss things? What about tomorrow, at 2? I work at ‘el grano’. ____ _ _

_____The dark-haired woman’s relaxed face turned into a skeptical, furrowed brows and narrowed eyes, expression again at the amount of information she had just received. If she didn’t think Macarena was strange, she definitely thought so now. She rolled her eyes at the request from the woman, literally despising nothing more than coffee shops and the fact that she couldn’t care less about this situation she got herself into. But the 5000€ were in the back of her mind so she replied:_ _ _ _ _

______Who even gets married in February? _  
_Anyways, I’ll be there ____ _ _ _ _ __

_______As she went to sleep, she hoped that Macarena would get annoyed of her quickly, so she could go back to her normal life richer and as soon as possible._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________ _ _ _ _ _

* * *

_________ _ _ _ _ _

_______Macarena woke up bright and early at six in the morning, jumping into the shower and letting her golden hair get soaked in the water, washing it. Once she was done, she brushed her teeth and put on some appropriate clothing for her job, a simple pair of jeans and a red shirt, combing her hair and blow-drying it after. To finish up, she applied some slight make up, mascara and lipgloss before leaving her bathroom._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______She immediately switched on the radio in her kitchen while she attempted to make herself a sandwich, swaying her hips to the beats of “Break My Stride” by Matthew Wilder and twirling around her kitchen happily._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______But that happiness quickly vanished when she remembered her plans for the day. Macarena was going to meet her “fake boyfriend” for the first time and after that little message exchange yesterday, her hopes had dropped immensely. He had seemed straightforward and kind of unfriendly to her, which wasn’t the best character traits to boast in a relationship, even if it was fake._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______After Macarena had finished her breakfast, she left for the subway so she would still be in time to catch her train and at 7:15, she arrived at ‘el grano’. With quick steps, she entered the small but quite known coffee shop, disappearing behind the bar, where she put on her apron and tugged her hair into a ponytail, leaving a few strands out. While she was tying her apron behind her back, she felt two hands on her hips._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______“Buenas, Maca.” A soft voice came from behind her and she jumped slightly._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______“Dios, Yole, you scared me!” The blonde replied and turned around to lock eyes with her colleague and good friend, Yolanda._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______They both giggled but when Yolanda tilted her head with slightly squinted eyes, Macarena stopped laughing, “Qué? What’s wrong?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______“Nada,” The brunette said with a shake of her head, “You just look different today.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______“Different, how? Worse?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______“No,” Yolanda chuckled, “Better. More.. alive.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______Macarena smiled softly and gave her a little, playful push in her ribs,  
“You’ve got to stop complimenting me, Yole.” She said and rolled her eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______“Ay, chicas, are you just going to chat or are you actually going to work for once?” Tere, the owner of the shop, asked the two women with a smile while she was making a café au lait for one of the customers.  
“Good morning to you too, Tere.” Macarena snapped back playfully before the two of them parted ways and she started serving the customers in line and taking orders. _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________ _ _ _ _ _

* * *

_________ _ _ _ _ _

_______Two p.m. rolled around the corner quicker than Macarena could blink and she kept looking up to the door every time the bell rang, signaling that someone entered the shop. Every time a man came in, she kept wondering if it was Zulema and so she ended up straightening her outfit every five minutes. But as the minutes passed, Maca started questioning if the man was even going to come. And when the clock hit 2:45, she had basically already given up._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______“Hello? Earth to Maca?” Macarena was pulled out of her thoughts when Yolanda started snapping her fingers in front of her face hectically.  
“What?” The blonde asked in confusion. _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______“Are you okay? You were just standing there and staring at the clock for like five minutes.” Yolanda explained with an expression of worry on her face.  
Maca bit down on her lower lip and nodded, “Yeah, I’m fine, just waiting for someone.” _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______“Maca has a date?” The brunette wiggled her brows and left Macarena rolling her eyes again with a soft smile.  
“It’s really complicated.” She shook her head._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______And with their conversation ending, Macarena was back in her head as she attempted to make a coffee for one of the customers, her mind wandering off._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______“Is no one going to take my order?” A rather rough, unfamiliar voice caused her to snap out of her thoughts again. Macarena turned her head towards where the voice was coming from, not quite being able to make out a face._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______Macarena hurried up to the cash register and wiped her hands on her apron in the process.  
“Oh uhm, excuse me, I was just-” She tried to apologize quickly but was interrupted by herself when she finally looked up at the person that was talking to her. _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______Her breath got stuck in her throat and she felt like she was going to suffocate just by looking at the woman across from her._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______The first thing her eyes caught were dark, emerald orbs that pierced right back into her own. They were big and just by looking into them, she knew they held so many secrets and so much pain. Macarena felt drawn in and she really had to force herself to look away for a second. The woman’s hair was pitch black and fell up to her shoulders that were hidden with a thick sweater, a fringe covering most of her eyebrows. Her make-up was strong, black liner and dark lashes, but it suited her and she made it look light. She was definitely older than Macarena, by a few years but at the same time, she didn’t look a day over thirty._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______“Are you going to let me wait another forty minutes?” The dark-haired woman asked, her voice pungent, “It’s not nice to let your date wait for so long, rubia.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______Maca’s brows furrowed in confusion.  
“I’m sorry, do I know you?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______“No, but I’m afraid you’ll have to. We’re going to be girlfriends after all. It’s Zulema, Zulema Zahir.” She held her hand out, polite like she definitely was(n’t)._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______Macarena’s eyes flickered between the hand and the woman’s face, her heart suddenly thumping against her rib cage harder than it ever did before. Like in a trance, she took Zulema’s hand, shaking it slowly and uneasily, an unfamiliar coldness running through her veins._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______And when hazel eyes met emerald ones again, it dawned on her that she had just invited hell itself into her life with nothing less than open arms._ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hola!! They finally met and let me tell you, Macarena was more than surprised and she, herself, doesn't even know if in a good or a bad way yet. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as I'm kind of proud of it, actually. Feel free to leave any feedback or requests if you'd like, adios.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! It's Mazey from @/zahivs on Instagram. This is not my first fanfiction but my first one of Zurena. I hope you enjoyed this rather short prologue. The next chapters will, for sure, be longer. The second chapter will also definitely include their first encounter. XOXO.


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